


My Favorite Color is You

by bhunks



Series: Soulmate AU [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 04:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15525879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bhunks/pseuds/bhunks
Summary: The color of your soulmate's quintessence is the color you don't see until you touch them for the first time.Title from lyrics in "Sober Up" by AJR!





	My Favorite Color is You

Their soul link was a special one.

The most common colors were red, blue, and green. Takashi had seen those colors his whole life. His kindergarten teacher was somewhat surprised when he recognized and named all three because it was expected that children would struggle with one of those colors. 

It ended up being yellow that he couldn’t distinguish from gray.

  
  


Takashi grew up watching his mother fawn over gray flowers. Her favorite color was yellow. He would watch her smooth the petals of sunflowers and freesias while he asked her how she met his father. 

She told him about how she always thought it was stormy when she was a kid before she realized she couldn’t see blue yet. His father couldn’t see orange before he met her. She said that’s what made their link so special- their colors were complementary.

“Do you think my soulmate can’t see purple?” Takashi asked, poking a night-sky petunia.

“I’m not sure,” she said, tipping her watering can over the flowers. “It’s always a surprise.”

  
  


Takashi was 13 when he realized his soulmate would be a boy.

He knew his parents would be accepting, and that they loved him unconditionally, and that they would support him. It didn’t make the idea of coming out any less scary.

He told them near the end of dinner one night, prepared to bolt. His parents exchanged a look and he felt his heart sink, but then they were both smiling at him and his father was squeezing his hand. “We’re glad you told us.”

Takashi felt his heart swell.

  
  


He was 14 when he received his acceptance letter from the Galaxy Garrison. His piloting class had nine people. 

They were called by name. Takashi told them he goes by Shiro, and the instructor made a note on her clipboard. They were put in three groups of three. Shiro had a girl named Elei and a boy named Adam in his group.

Shiro had thought out the millions of ways he could meet his soulmate. Adam was attractive- he had braces, but they were clean, and his squinted like he needed glasses, but it was endearing (somehow). His smile was nervous and he fidgeted. 

Shiro stayed rooted in his spot. He wasn’t sure if he was going to brush by casually, and see if the world lit up with yellow, because what if it  _ didn’t _ ? He’d thought he’d met his soulmate dozens of times before; it was bound to happen when you were a naive romantic. 

He didn’t touch Adam that day.

  
  


A week later, Shiro snuck onto the roof.

Plenty of students did it. He wouldn’t have been surprised if there was another kid up there. But there wasn’t. It was empty. He sat down with his legs over the ledge and swung them around. A few minutes later, he heard a voice behind him. 

“Careful, you don’t want Iverson to catch you.”

Shiro jumped and whipped his head around. “Oh. Hi, Adam.” He felt nervous and happy and even excited all at once. “What’re you doing out here?”

“Saw you sneak out,” he answered, sitting down next to Shiro, a little too close.  _ He could accidentally brush my shoulder. _ Shiro didn’t want to touch him, he didn’t want to  _ know _ because he liked Adam  _ so much _ and Shiro wasn’t sure what he’d do if he didn’t see yellow after touching him. “I wanted to see what you were up to. Not much, as it turns out.”

“Sorry.”

They were sort of friends, now, he and Adam and Elei. 

They talked for fifteen more minutes before Adam stood up. “I’m really tired, so I’m gonna go back,” he said. “See you tomorrow?”

“I’ll come, too,” Shiro said. He flushed and looked away, thankful it was dark. “I mean, I’m tired, you know?”

“Okay,” Adam said, and he offered his hand to help Shiro up.

Shiro froze.  _ Just do it. He either is or he isn’t. It’s not any different from the other times you found out the other person wasn’t actually your soulmate. _

He accepted the hand and when he had stood up, he found himself saying, “Have you met your soulmate?”

Adam shook his head ruefully. “No. But I hope I do soon. Have you?”

Shiro glanced around, but the only things he saw were the slate gray walls of the Galaxy Garrison and the deep blue of the night sky. It felt like a tennis ball full of disappointment was stuck in his throat. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I haven’t seen yellow yet.”

“Mine is purple,” Adam said, and his lips quirked. “Is it a nice color?”

“It’s one of my favorites,” Shiro said. “Is yellow a nice color?”

“I like all shades of yellow,” Adam said. “Pastel and bright. Deep golds, especially. I love it. I think you will, too.”

“I hope so,” Shiro said, and he walked back to his dorm and fell asleep. 

  
  


When he woke up, he sat straight up and choked.

Before he left for the Garrison, his mother gave him a small pot with a little yellow rose. She said, “Just in case,” and he took it with him because it reminded him of his parents and she was right- just in case.

The flower wasn’t gray. It was yellow.

Shiro picked up the tiny pot and held it in his lap, staring at the petals. 

Adam was right. Yellow was a  _ beautiful _ color. 

Discovering a new color was breathtaking. It was impossible to imagine what yellow would be before he saw it. He kept thinking of mixtures, but yellow was a primary color, it was unique all on its own. 

He dressed quickly bolted from his room to Adam’s, stopping just in front of the door. What if Adam didn’t see purple? What if Shiro was the rare case of unrequited love?

He turned to leave when Adam’s door slid open. Adam was staring at him. Shiro stared back, not sure what to do. 

Adam let out a short laugh. He was nervous smiling. “Do you…?” He trailed off and gestured to the stripes on their cadet uniforms. “Um. See... yellow?”

Shiro almost choked. “I- yeah. Yeah. I do.” A moment later, “Do you see purple?”

“Yeah,” Adam said, nodding a little too quickly. “Yeah. You were right. I think it’s my favorite color now.”

“So…” It was still relatively early. The hallway was empty. “You’re gay?”

Shiro could have hit himself for asking such a  _ stupid _ question. It was so awkward, so out of place, and the answer was so  _ obvious _ -

“Bisexual,” Adam said. He scratched behind his ear, looking away. “So… what now?”

“Now?” Shiro scratched his shoulder nervously. “I guess we just figure out where to go from here.”

  
  


“Our colors are complementary,” Adam said.

They were seventeen. They were both lying on their backs on the roof, stargazing. “What?”

“Our colors,” Adam said, tilting his head to look at Shiro. “They’re complimentary. Mine is yellow and yours is purple. So our soul link is stronger than most people’s.”

“We knew our colors were complementary,” Shiro said, grinning.

“But that’s so  _ special _ . And significant,” Adam said, sitting up. “And we found each other really young.”

“I was scared to touch you when I first met you because I didn’t want to find out you weren’t my soulmate,” Shiro said, sitting up with him.

“I know,” Adam said, smirking. “You’ve told me. It gets funnier every time though, I promise.”

Shiro leaned on his shoulder. “I was taller than you back then.”

“Yup,” Adam said, popping the ‘p.’ “And now I’m exactly 1.5 inches taller than you.”

“I love you,” Shiro said, because he had no brain-to-mouth filter and he wanted to say it. “Even if you make fun of me for being short, Beanpole.”

“Beefcake,” Adam said. “I love you, too.”

Shiro kissed him. Adam didn’t have braces anymore, and he had gotten glasses about a year ago so he didn’t squint at his dashboard or small letters anymore. Shiro thought they were cute, even though Adam thought they made him look stupid at first.

Shiro pulled away and Adam gave him a short butterfly kiss. “Yeah, I definitely love you.”

“Was there ever any doubt?” Shiro asked cheekily.

Adam pretended to think for a moment. Then, decidedly, he said, “Never.”

Shiro agreed wholeheartedly and kissed him again.

**Author's Note:**

> Personal headcanon: Shiro's quintessence is deep violet, Adam's is gold. Thank you to everyone who commented on my tumblr post with suggestions for Adam's color!


End file.
